EVFTA pushes up Vietnam’s exports to Sweden

Vietnamese rice has many opportunities to enter the Swedish market. - Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has clearly helped promote trade between Vietnam and Sweden, with Vietnam’s export turnover to the country in January surging 99.94 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnamese Trade Office in Sweden.

With a technology-based knowledge economy and a comprehensive social welfare system, Sweden is one of the nations with the highest living standards in the world, the office said.

Its strengths in innovation, creativity, and high-technology have helped it export key products to Vietnam such machinery and spare parts for industry and telecommunications products.

Meanwhile, it imports agricultural products, footwear, textiles, and wooden products from Vietnam. Notably, Vietnamese rice has many opportunities to enter the Swedish market, the office noted.

Figures from the General Department of Vietnam Customs show that two-way trade hit about 160.89 million USD in January, of which Vietnam’s exports to Sweden were worth 132 million USD, up 99.94 percent over January last year.

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Sweden Phan Dang Duong, the EU market and Sweden in particular have high demand for tropical and processed agricultural products.

Vietnam holds great potential to expand its exports to Northern Europe, he said.

The EVFTA, which took effect from August 1, 2020, gradually removes barriers and opens the door to Vietnamese goods all over Europe.

Duong said Vietnamese enterprises have quickly taken advantage of preferential tariffs to export agricultural products to the bloc in general and Sweden in particular.

Vietnamese rice has been gradually dominating the market, with export turnover rising nearly 10-fold to over 1 million USD from 100,000 USD in previous years.

Other key products of Vietnam, such as furniture, frozen tropical fruits, coconut milk, frozen vegetables, and textiles and footwear, also hold great prospects in Sweden.

In the opening days of 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak began and quickly spread around Northern Europe, the Vietnamese Trade Office in Sweden and Northern Europe paid particular attention to strengthening trade promotion activities and supporting Vietnamese exporters.

It developed online trade promotion support tools and a database of over 3,000 Northern European companies. It also published seven e-books in Vietnamese with market information on Northern Europe and two English e-books on Vietnam’s fruits and vegetables and seafood products.

Representatives from the office also attended online seminars and fairs, to promote links between Vietnamese exporters and partners in Northern Europe.

Such measures proved effective, helping Vietnamese businesses access customers while helping Northern European businesses understand more about the EVFTA and the benefits it brings when importing goods from Vietnam./.